Woodbury Common set for Black Friday onslaught

When the late U.S. Gen. George Patton observed that "success demands a high level of logistical and organizational competence," he was talking about winning battles and wars.

Judy Rife

When the late U.S. Gen. George Patton observed that "success demands a high level of logistical and organizational competence," he was talking about winning battles and wars.

When State Police Sgt. Mike Quinn makes the very same point today, he's talking about managing traffic around Woodbury Common Premium Outlets on Black Friday.

"In the first 24 hours, we'll see tens of thousands of cars; tens, tens, of thousands," said Quinn, a 10-year veteran of the shopping holiday detail. "And every year, there are more stores and more shoppers, so we can't stop looking for solutions that keep the traffic moving."

Toward that end, Quinn and Town of Woodbury Police Chief Richard Vasquez, co-chairs of the multi-agency traffic management committee for Black Friday and other shopping holidays, said their staffs will start work earlier this year than last to accommodate the ever-earlier opening of stores Thanksgiving Day.

Many of the 220 stores at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets will open at 6 p.m. Thursday, three hours earlier than last year, and remain open through the night. Stores at the three other shopping centers in the area — all of which pay for this extraordinary traffic-management effort — are following suit.

"It's become, over time, a shopping mecca," Quinn said. "Within a two-mile radius, you can buy just about anything. But the bigger struggle is that the infrastructure hasn't changed. If we had that ramp, if the reconstruction of Exit 131 hadn't been delayed, we wouldn't have such a big problem."

The Route 17 project includes a ramp that eliminates left turns off southbound Route 32 to the Thruway — a major bottleneck for traffic around the calendar. The state, which originally planned to start construction next year, has now postponed it until at least 2017.

The Department of Transportation, however, did include the caveat in the permit for laying Kiryas Joel's aqueduct pipeline along Route 32 that this year's work be completed by Nov. 15 to avoid conflict with holiday traffic. The project has involved reducing traffic on portions of the highway to one signal-controlled lane.

The heavy traffic has been a bonanza for Short Line, which has seen its Woodbury Common service grow year after year.

The bus company operates on a "load and go" basis at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and at the shopping center.

"Last year, from 7:45 p.m. Thursday to 2 a.m Friday alone, we ran more than 40 buses to the Common," said Laurie Heller, Short Line's marketing manager. "We don't change the schedule; we just keep adding buses as people show up. And this year, of course, we're starting earlier."

Woodbury Common, meanwhile, has suspended construction of its $170 million expansion until January and temporarily repaved the broken asphalt around the site of a new four-story parking garage to limit the loss of spaces in its 5,700-car lot.

David Mistretta, the center's general manager, encouraged shoppers to use the off-site parking lots and shuttle buses to save time. Troopers usually give the buses traffic priority.

"(But) there are certain times that we've experienced brief lulls in traffic (and) early Friday morning is a great time to arrive," Mistretta said.